The overall aim of the Memphis Area Bridge Program remains to increase the likelihood that minority students enrolled in Associate Degree programs at Shelby State Community College or the State Technical Institute at Memphis complete baccalaureate programs in the biomedical sciences or related engineering areas at the University of Memphis and go on to eventual careers in biomedical research. African American students are a significant component of the student body at each institution and are in the majority at Shelby State. As in the previous grant period, strong emphasis will be placed on (i) improving communication between faculty at the three institutions as to provide continuous and consistent mentorships of promising transfer students and (ii) providing a positive biomedical research participation experience for potential transfer students in which they work with both a faculty member from their own institution and a future undergraduate research mentor at the University of Memphis. Experience in the program has emphasized the additional importance of exposing the students to accurate information about the sources of employment for research scientists and the mechanisms by which both fundamental and applied biomedical research may be funded. Student participants will be tracked throughout the program and for more than two years following baccalaureate graduation as part of a comprehensive evaluation of program effectiveness.